Police arrested and charged a driver and a passenger with drug-related offenses following a traffic stop.
On December 26, 2024, at approximately 1:30 a.m., members from the Almaguin Highlands Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) were on general patrol, and conducted a traffic stop with a vehicle on Highway 124 in the township of Strong, when the ALPPR alerted officers of a potential wanted party.
During the investigation, the driver and passenger were arrested for possession of drugs. A search of the vehicle located drug paraphernalia, a digital scale and drugs suspected to be cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamine, with an estimated street value of just over $17,000.00.
As a result of the investigation, Alexis Sawchuk, 34 years-of-age, from North Bay, was charged with:
- Possession of a schedule I substance for the purpose of trafficking – two counts
- Possession of a schedule I substance – Two counts
- Driving while under suspension
Further, Jason Simpell, 42 years-of-age, from North Bay, was charged with:
- Possession of proceeds of property obtained by crime under $5000
- Possession of a schedule I substance for the purpose of trafficking – two counts
- Possession of a schedule I substance – Two counts
- Fail to Comply with Probation Order
Both accused appeared before the Ontario Court of Justice in Sudbury on December 27th, 2024, and were remanded into custody.
All OPP patrol vehicles are equipped with ALPR technology. ALPR has proven to be an effective way to increase the efficiency of discovering and conducting investigations related to both traffic and criminal offences. It does so by detecting licence plates that are linked to occurrences such as wanted or missing persons, stolen vehicles, suspended/prohibited drivers, vehicles associated with AMBER Alerts and other serious occurrences.